Listen to narration by a local historian

Nathaniel Hawthorne School No. 25

Jeff Ludwig

Historical Researcher, City of Rochester

It seems curious that Rochester would name a public building after a non-resident, especially one with only a modest connection to the city. Yet such was the case when, following its construction in 1915, local leaders christened School 25 in honor of the Massachusetts-born literary giant, Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Further, the Nathaniel Hawthorne School at 965 North Goodman Street— seen here at is appeared in 1935— was designed as a near exact replication of the Salem, Massachusetts Custom House where the famed author penned early drafts of The Scarlet Letter.

Perhaps the grand gesture of recreating the Custom House was an act of belated repayment.

In 1834 a young Hawthorne painted a glowing picture of the settlement thriving along the Genesee River in a very short piece (less than four total pages) entitled “Rochester.” Impressed by the “hum and bustle of an instantaneous city” rising where “lately the forest leaves have been swept away,” Hawthorne heaped praise upon a boomtown made suddenly prosperous by its “canals and milldams.”

For that bit of boosterism, one gathers, the city invested $85,000 to fashion the Colonial-style architecture of School 25. Its original layout included twelve classrooms, a library, and an assembly hall.

Although undoubtedly an attractive sight, many Rochesterians were left to wonder whether the Hawthorne tribute had been a practical choice given the city’s need for a large school.

Indeed, located in a neighborhood predominantly populated by newly arrived immigrants— a survey conducted in the 1920s determined that 60% of parents in the district were Italian émigrés— the area surrounding the school was experiencing rapid growth.

Not even the so-called “Bay Street Alley” wing of new classrooms added to the building in 1917 was enough to keep up with rising enrollment. By 1920, eight portable units were in use on campus.

The elementary school continued to expand throughout the decade, acquiring nearby lots and converting private residences to “practice houses.” Sites of acculturation as much as education, these homes were used to offer lessons in cooking, cleaning, and carpentry to many first-generation U.S. citizens.

Despite the persistent growth of the community served by the school, the Rochester Board of Education nearly shuttered the facility in 1947. The proposed cost-cutting measure, which would have scattered School 25 students to five other districts, was defeated by a neighborhood opposition movement.

Even as the demographics of the neighborhood changed in subsequent decades, this sense of community spirit remained intact.

Amid budget cuts to maintenance staff during the 1970s and 1980s, groups of parent volunteers took on the tasks of painting, cleaning, and making repairs to the building. They also dedicated their time to assisting teachers inside the classrooms.

As a result, according to a 1990 Democrat & Chronicle report, “School 25 is one of several bright spots in the city’s troubled school system… in School 25, poverty and bad circumstance, which plague many urban districts, take a backseat to education. More than 90 percent of the pupils passed each of the state’s reading, writing, and math tests.”

Today, the mission of the Nathaniel Hawthorne School reflects similarly high aspirations: “[to] prepare all children to be self-confident problem solvers, in order to become productive members in a diverse society.”